Nov

18

Jamison Has Double-Double In Debut; Wizards Stage Late Rally Beat Cavaliers 108-91

Posted by Jeff Sack under NBA Game Recap 

Antawn Jamison made his NBA regular season debut Wednesday night and appeared to be in mid-season form. The Washington Wizards All-star forward recorded a double-double with 31 points and 10 rebounds and his club made a second half come back to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers in what would turn out to be a rout by the final score of 108-91. The win would break two different streaks; the Wizards six game losing streak and Cleveland’s five game winning streak both came to an end. 

Over the last few seasons the Washington Wizards have been the “Best Team That Almost Was” year in and year out. When the Wizards terrific trio of Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison are healthy they are one of the most dangerous teams in the NBA. However those times have been rare over the last few years as guard Gilbert Arenas was in constant pain due to his left knee. 

This season Arenas is playing pain free and focused for the first time in a while and the club lost Jamison during an exhibition game in October against the Cavaliers when the forward partially dislocated his right shoulder. Wednesday night he was wearing a protective sleeve over the shoulder but that was the only sign of the injury as he had a strong night.  LeBron James was the game’s leading scorer as the Cavaliers forward had 34 points in his team’s loss.

The Cavaliers were playing the second game in consecutive nights but they certainly did not show any signs of fatigue in the first as they led 32-22 at the end of the quarter.  That however would be the high point of the night for Cleveland as they started to fall back to earth in the second quarter and then crashed and burned in the second half. The Cavaliers lost their shooting touch in the second however the Wizards were not much better and Cleveland still led by a 51-44 margin at the half.

The Cavaliers never did recover they offense the rest of the night however the Wizards did find theirs. Washington would grab the lead for the first time in the quarter at 54-53 with 8:59 remaining when Mike Miller knocked down a mid range jumper.

The two teams would volley the lead back and forth until Arenas drained a 26 foot trey with 1:40 left in the period giving Washington a 70-67 advantage that they would never surrender the rest of the game. The Wizards would end the period leading 75-72. Washington got the lead to double digits when Caron Butler knocked down a long outside shot and then hit a shot at the line to give his club an 88-78 lead with 7:31 left to play. Cleveland never came close to threatening the rest of the night.  

Antawn Jamison celebrated his return to active duty with a double-double as he  put up 31 points, 10 boards, 2 assists and 1 steal while Caron Butler had 19 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal. Gilbert Arenas scored 18 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds and 1 steal while Mike Miller added 17 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 1 steal.

LeBron James lead all players with 34 points, 9 assists, 2 rebounds and 2 steals. Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Jamario Moon and Darnell Jackson would score 10 points each for the Cavaliers. Washington with the win improves to a 3-7 record and will next play Friday in OKC as the take on the Thunder. Cleveland is now at 8-4 and also will next play on Friday as they head to Indiana to take on the Pacers.

© Copyright 2009 thesackattack


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